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Why is Effective Traffic Management Essential?

Can’t we all just… get to our destination faster? All I ask the universe for is to allot the appropriate time it should take me to get to and from work each day. For example, my workplace is 30 kilometres away from where I reside. Therefore it should only take a maximum of 45 minutes, based on the distance, to get to work. But nope. Slaps palm on face. That would be too easy. There is an indefinite amount of variables that come into play while driving on the road on a daily basis, whether it’s 30 kms or just down the street. And thus, with these traffic inevitabilities, it is imperative that our city/state/country/world practices effective traffic management.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever experienced experienced extreme frustration on the road. raises hand. I believe 10/10 people reading this have experienced stress and frustration on one or more occasions, no matter how “Namaste” you feel on the inside. Traffic happens. Unexpected delays happen. Such is life. But thankfully we have traffic management workers and signs to guide us through the mess when ever we’re exposed road works, at least for the majority of the time.

Picture “Detour” signs guiding you on a different route, or “Road work ahead” signs letting you know the reason why you are stuck in traffic and also giving a clear warning sign to SLOW DOWN. No matter how frustrating it might be to see those signs and automatically feel defeated, (playing devil’s advocate here), what if there weren’t any signs? What if you only saw roadwork as you approached it? What if you only knew detour routes because you happened to know that particular town like the back of your hand? These signs are not only there for our traffic awareness to prevent car accidents, but they are there to prevent road worker injuries as well. It’s not all about us! Road workers have a pretty risky job. Even though the signs are there (literally), drivers may not be paying attention to it, could be dozing off, etc, which could danger themselves, their passengers, and even road working staff.

On a positive note, we rely on those friendly parking attendants at a concert or a sports game, waving their hands to tell us how and where to park. God bless them. It is confusing enough to park on the grass with no car lines, and 100 other cars waiting to park behind you. I digress.

In short, yes- the world would run more efficiently if there was never traffic. There would be more people on time for work, less stress, headaches, and road rage. There would be more time doing the things you want to do rather than just sitting in traffic for an extra 1-2 hours daily. (That could add up to whopping 480 hours per year, just sitting in traffic). But since traffic is inevitable, it is vitally important to practice effective traffic management both as drivers and as road workers. Effective Traffic Management is essential for not only our sanity but also our safety and the safety of road workers.